On 1 June, I 'rescued' four communities of gerbils; one has about twenty
five members! Now that I have over fifty gerbils, I am in 'crash course'
mode.
I normally breed dwarf campbell and long haired syrian hamsters;
I supply a few local petstores with good quality animals as a steady
supplier.
Right now I am treating them as chinese dwarf hamsters:
expert jumpers, voracious chewers, and desire to wreak havoc
and get loose to the extreme.
1.) what is the best caging/housing for a gerbil community cluster?
The groups I have range from five to over twenty five members. I
have a need for ESCAPE proof and inexpensive, please.
2.) I have a custom mix of feed made up for my hamsters; which
does include several grains, from millet, oats, wheat, barley,
corn, and includes some shelled peanuts and black stripe sunflower
seeds. I've been told that peanuts and sunflower seeds are not
'good' for gerbils. ? What would be a good mix to feed?
3.) Life expectancy? Average?
4.) I've been told that if one mixes juveniles or adults from different
groups, they will fight, seriously. Can one mix very young animals
(sometime after weaning) together, then? And if so, what age is
that..and when does it get to be a problem?
5.) Related to #4, one can take individuals from one community
group and keep them together? Such as taking two animals from
a larger group and keeping them together (finding a home for them
under someone else's care....)? You can break down a family group
by separation into smaller groups?
6.) Some space requirements would be appreciated also. I know
what the hamsters I keep need; I have no idea because of the
communal cluster nature of gerbils, what those needs are.
Sigh. I did not realize what I was getting into when I accepted these
animals, but they could not stay where they were as they were, either.
Any private email with some help would be appreciated.
At the moment, the groups are in temporary housing (which needs
to be replaced before it gets gnawed through!) with lots of cardboard
tubes, chunks of pine, carrots, my hamster mix feed, and a mix of
shredded paper (very fine soft-ripped chunks, not paper shredder
strip stuff) and pine shavings for bedding.
Please, email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thank you.
